Hankinson Painting Group Recycling Centre at Bromborough, Wirral
Published 23 August 2010
Hankinson Painting Group has always taken a lead in the disposal of paint and this has been further enhanced with the new Recycling Centre located at the Hankinson Painting Group Training Academy in Bromborough Wirral.
The company has always been committed to Health, Safety and Environment, which has been demonstrated by the numerous awards over recent years, more recently the ‘Green Apple Award’ in 2010 and the Royal Mail Green Award 2009.
It is estimated that around 50 million litres of unused paint is sent to landfill or remains in disused paint tins every year. Hankinson Painting Group alone uses around 50,000 paint pots a year.
Pete Saunders, Workforce Development Co-ordinator for Hankinson Painting Group has established the Recycling Centre displaying the company’s further dedication to the disposal of environmental waste.
Stephen Hankinson, Group Chief Executive said “I am delighted with our new recycling facility which makes the recycling process smarter and quicker and also demonstrates more easily to our clients our commitment to the environment”.
Pete has devised a process that allows a quick and effective recycling process for operatives to use.
All waste paints are segregated into water-based paints or solvent/ oil based paints. Waste paints are then decanted into IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) each containing around 1,000 litres of waste paint. Once the IBC’s are full, they are taken to a treatment plant where the waste paint is treated and washed accordingly. The residues of the treatment are turned into polymer-based products with any bio waste turned into compost.
Once the oil and solvent based IBC’s are full they are taken and stored at a storage facility prior to being shipped to power stations across Europe and used for Pyrolysis.
Pyrolysis is a new technology that uses thermal decomposition of flammable waste molecules by heating in the absence of oxygen. This process not only provides an excellent heat source for fuelling these power stations but also separates the elements producing renewable oil as a waste product and gases are rapidly cooled and separated thus reducing toxic emissions.
The plastic paint containers are cleaned and placed into designated IBC cages before being taken to the treatment plant. The plastic containers are then washed again at the plant and shredded before being heat treated into high purity granulates (plastic pellets).
These pellets are then sent to manufacturers around the world and are used in the manufacture of plastic products such as garden furniture.
The metal tins on the other hand are fully dried out and crushed with a can crusher; they are then taken to a treatment plant where they are converted to general steel products.
A regular day will be arranged over the coming months for all operatives to dispose of the disused tins/plastic pots and paint, this will be monitored by Pete Saunders who commented “Even in this current economical climate it is an incredible achievement that we, as a company are still 100% committed to saving the environment”.
23.08.10
